Avernum: Homecoming
by Verecunda
Summary: A mysterious evil threatens to lay waste to the surface world, endangering not only the Empire, but the last hope the people of Avernum have of returning home. Caught between friend and foe, a group of adventurers fight to save the dream of their people. A selection of novelised episodes from Avernum 3.
1. Marching Orders

A/N: This is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. When I was a tot, I was in love with the _Exile_ games, especially _Exile III_. I made up stories about the world and the characters, which must've been some of the first fanfic I ever wrote. Not long ago, I rediscovered the series through the _Avernum_ games. I started a new game of _Avernum 3_ , and it reminded me of all those old stories and headcanons, so I ended up scribbling down various bits and pieces. This won't be a full novelisation of the game, more of a selection of various episodes that I'll be writing as the mood takes me. It's more of a writing exercise than anything. Still, if you're reading this, I hope you enjoy these odd fragments.

General disclaimer: the _Exile/Avernum_ games belong to Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software.

* * *

Marching Orders

The rune shimmered in midair, the intricate lines gleaming with subtle fire, like torchlight along a skein of spider-silk. It hung there, gleaming, ghostly, then it glowed brighter, brighter still - and burst, those fragile spider-skeins of light dying into nothingness.

A collective groan went up from the mages gathered in the laboratory.

"Experiment twenty-six," said Adrianna with a sigh, dipping her stylus into the inkstand and moving it over the parchment lying on the desk before her.

Deverell sent a dark look at the thin air where the rune had so briefly taken shape, and muttered, "Experiment twenty-six: bloody nothing."

"That's not strictly true," said Adrianna. "It definitely hurt my eyes more than last time when it flared out."

It wasn't much of a joke, but it got a laugh, at least, and Deverell snorted. "Well, it's good for something, then. The army mages can use it to blind oncoming enemies."

They exchanged a strained smile, and Adrianna gestured to the little group of second-year apprentices who lined the wall by the door. "Sorry, everyone. Nothing more to see today. You might as well head back to your dorms. But we might have something more to show you tomorrow."

Mumchance, they filed out. As soon as the door had closed behind them, the four mages of the research team relaxed from the tense, expectant postures they'd frozen in during the enchantment, and flopped into vacant chairs, exhausted by the exertion and the disappointment.

"There's obviously something we're still missing," said Morgant, "some subtlety in the design."

"Rubbish," scoffed Deverell. "Our interpretation of the design is fine. It's maintaining it that's the problem."

"Maybe it requires an incantation?" suggested Ramona.

"Whoever heard of a rune needing an incantation?" said Morgant. "No, I think we've missed something in the design."

"Maybe we should try using a crystal?" suggested Deverell.

Adrianna shook her head. "We tried that, remember? Back at the start."

"Oh. Yeah."

They were all silent for a minute, remembering that particular incident. It had been weeks before their eyebrows had grown back in, and for the smell of charred meat to clear from the laboratory.

She glanced back to where the rune had been, and felt a gnawing sense of frustration. Over three years of research, and today's non-event was the high point of their work so far. She agreed with Deverell that the design itself was fine: their research in reconstructing the form had been so thorough, and it was a human rune, not an unfamiliar glyph used by the vahnatai or slithzerikai mages, whose subtleties might pass them by. She was sure they had the form down. But there was obviously something vital missing, and she had the infuriating sense that it was right under her nose, if only she could see it…

"Back to the books, then," sighed Ramona. "Perhaps if we tried a comparison with those nephil symbols I was talking about…"

"I wonder if Kelner knows anything," mused Morgant. "We should ask him."

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Adrianna, twirling the stylus absently between her fingers. "He's been rather... distracted the last few times I've spoken to him."

"It's Linda," said Deverell. "Solberg's exactly the same. He hardly comes out of his chamber now."

"Can hardly blame the poor man," said Ramona. "I know I've had a few nightmares since she came back."

They all gave a nervous laugh, hurriedly stifled, as if they half-expected Linda to be scrying on them as they spoke. Which, in a place like the Tower of Magi, was never out of the question. When a knock came at the door, they all four of them jumped.

"C-come in?" called Deverell uncertainly, as if he half-expected Grah-Hoth and all his demon hordes to come bursting through the door.

When the door opened, however, it was only a spotty, nervous young apprentice. "Sorry to interrupt," she said in a small voice. "Is there an Adrianna here?"

She got to her feet. "I'm Adrianna."

"You have a visitor in Classroom Eleven."

"A visitor?" Adrianna's eyebrows shot up. "Who is it?"

"I don't know, sorry!" squeaked the apprentice, wildly apologetic. "He was talking to Mahdavi and Kelner earlier."

Which shed no light on anything. Nothing else for it. Adrianna straightened her robe. "All right. I'll come. Thanks…er…?"

"Ginny, ma'am."

"Thank you, Ginny."

The girl couldn't get out of there quick enough. Adrianna sympathised: she remembered when - not so very long ago, really - she'd been an apprentice herself, and had regarded all full-fledged mages as vaguely terrifying figures who might turn her into a rock-lizard if she dared waste their precious time.

"Who is it, Adrianna?" Ramona asked.

"I've no idea. I'll let you know when I've seen him. Where will I find you?"

"Library?" suggested Deverell.

"Either there or the refectory," said Morgant.

She smiled. "All right. See you later, then."

The classrooms were just down from the laboratories, but most lectures were over for the day, so the corridor was quiet and echoing as Adrianna reached Classroom Eleven. She'd spent maybe half her life in the Tower of Magi, but even so, she still felt that there were plenty of its secrets that she didn't know even now, and she could never be wholly certain what she might find around each shadowy corner. But she reached the classroom without incident and knocked at the door. A masculine voice called, "C'min."

The classroom was empty, with a stale trace of magic lingering in the air after the day's lectures. The only occupant was a man lounging bonelessly in a chair in the middle row, looking for all the world like a bored apprentice in a spectacularly dull lecture. At the sound of the door, however, he snapped to attention, and turned in his seat to welcome her with a wide grin.

"Aha, you must be Adrianna! In you come, grab a pew! You've got the pick of them today."

Adrianna shuffled along to take the seat on his left-hand side. At close quarters, she could see that her visitor was a man of middling age, his sandy shoulder-length hair somewhat dulled and unkempt, though his short beard was neatly trimmed. He was tall, and muscular with it, and the well-worn leather jerkin and wicked scar across one cheek testified that he'd obviously seen fighting in his time. But his cheerful, almost aggressively casual manner didn't fit a regular soldier, certainly not like the rigid deportment of the Tower guards. Despite his lackadaisical appearance, however, he seemed deceptively alert. That piqued her interest. This was not a man to mess with.

"So here you are at last," he said grandly. "I guess introductions are in order. We've worked out you're Adrianna. My name's Aldous."

She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Aldous." Then, as the name registered with her, "Wait! You're not-"

"Sure am. But we're not interested in me just now. We're interested in you."

Adrianna could only sit and wonder. Aldous was a name known throughout all Avernum: he was one of the Empire War Heroes, that band of adventurers who had served Avernum so bravely during the war. Their achievements were legendary. They had recovered the sacred Crystal Souls of the vahnatai, forging the first link of alliance between Avernum and that ancient, mysterious race. They had destroyed the Imperial Army's troop teleporter, crushing the Empire's military ambitions and saving Avernum from being overrun. And they had slain the dread wizard Garzahd, the dark force behind the Imperial throne and foe to all Avernites, securing Avernum's victory. What, in the name of all the gods, could one of them possibly want to speak to her about?

"I've been asking around," said Aldous, apparently oblivious to her amazement. "I'm looking for a mage, you see, Adrianna. How old are you?"

The question - so mundane from such a famous person - surprised her so much she answered without thinking. "Twenty-one, sir."

"You can forget about the 'sir's," said Aldous cheerfully, pulling a ragged scrap of parchment out from his jacket, and making a quick scribble on it with a stylus from behind his ear. "Twenty-one. And you're a researcher here full-time?"

"Yes," she said, only just remembering to omit the "sir". "I lead a team with three colleagues of mine. We've been researching elder runes for three years now."

"How's that going?"

She thought of their disappointment in the laboratory, and admitted, "Could be better." They had uncovered so much, but even with the vast resources of the Tower, there was so much that was lost, or unobtainable to the mages of Avernum. So much in danger of being forgotten altogether. "We've come far, but not far enough."

He nodded gravely. "All a bit over my head, to be honest. Magery is more Marcipor's line."

Marcipor. Another Empire War Hero. Adrianna almost laughed at the sheer strangeness of this living legend speaking so casually about another living legend, as casually as she might mention Ramona or Deverell to a new acquaintance.

"Still," he said, scribbling something else on his parchment, "I bet you must know a lot of old lore. Always a nice asset, that."

Adrianna raised an eyebrow. "Do you say that to all the girls, Aldous?"

He laughed, rocking back in his chair. "Ah, gods, I like you already! I'm half-tempted to okay you right off!"

"Okay me for what, sir?"

He flashed her another grin. "I've been talking to some of the head honchos here - Kelner, Mahdavi, and that lot. They say you're one of the best and brightest young mages they have."

The thought that anyone as important as Mahdavi had even noted her existence, let alone described her as one of their best and brightest, made Adrianna blush furiously.

"I'm just a researcher..." she mumbled, feeling suddenly awkward. She'd spent half her life in the Tower. When Aldous and his companions were bringing down Garzahd and saving the nation, she had been crying from homesickness and grinding up graymould for the alchemists.

"A researcher heading an investigation into a deep, arcane magic, and described by your superiors as a mage of outstanding ability. Am I right? Honestly, now. I got no use for false modesty here." He was still smiling, but that indefinable sense of intensity about him had deepened. He was in deadly earnest. The best thing she could do was be equally candid.

So she nodded. "Yes. As an apprentice, I ranked consistently within the top percentile of my class."

"And you've seen a bit of action in your time," Aldous went on. "Melted a few cave slimes, sent a few zombies to their eternal rest."

"I travel fairly often in the caves, so I have some experience of using offensive magic in the field, yes. My mother lives up in Formello, so I make the journey to visit her whenever I can get leave."

"Aaah, that's nice." He was teasing, but he seemed interested. "Your mum a mage, too?"

"No, she's on the mayor's staff."

"Ah. Good, upstanding, public-spirited stock, eh? That's what I like to hear. Would I be right in thinking then, Adrianna, that as well as being a mage adept and fairly experienced in smiting the nasties of the southern caves, you're a loyal subject of Avernum and our good King Micah?"

"Of course. I was born here, in Almaria."

His eyebrows went up at that. "Is that so?"

Avernum-borns were often treated with a degree of veiled pity by those born on the surface. Poor children who had never seen the sun. But she didn't sense this from Aldous. If anything, he seemed oddly pleased.

"Well then, Adrianna, I'll square with you. Would you like to do something for Avernum, for your people?"

"If my research can be of any use to Avernum, then-"

"Your research might well be of some use, but right now it's your abilities I'm interested in. We need a mage or two, and you're the most skilled I can get."

"'We?'"

"Unspecified Services."

Adrianna stared at him, dumbfounded. Her, join Unspecified Services? What was Aldous thinking? Unspecified Services was Avernum's more secret branch of operatives: spies, swords-for-hire, adventurers, lone wolf mages. She was a magical researcher, a glorified librarian. She could hardly think of an unlikelier candidate to join their ranks.

"Are you sure?" was all she could think to say.

"Dead sure," replied Aldous, and although his smile was still brightly in place, there was no trace of flippancy about him now. "Unspecified Services has asked me to do a bit of recruiting, I wanted a mage, and you're the best candidate the Tower offered me. So, I'll put it to you more formal-like, Adrianna: would you be willing to join Unspecified Services, and take up a position at Fort Emergence?"

"Fort Emergence!"

The plot thickened! Fort Emergence was one of the premier fortifications in Upper Avernum, the system of caves and tunnels that had been just recently colonised in the years following the war. Unlike Avernum, believed to be hundreds of miles below the surface of the earth, Upper Avernum was reckoned to be just beneath. The only known route to these upper caves was through a magical portal built here at the Tower, overseen by Mahdavi and Vidrain, and in the months since it had been built, the Tower had been inundated with travellers: the soldiers, labourers, couriers, mages, traders, and settlers who had been given clearance to travel, and the hundreds of other hopefuls who had come to the Tower in the hope of earning, begging, or conning their way up. The excitement had raced through Avernum like a marsh-fever, as all Avernites turned their faces up to the cave roofs above them, dreaming of the sun.

The sun. Adrianna had never seen it, but all her life she had heard about it from those who had. It was impossible to escape. Her people dreamed of it, talked of it, sang of it. To Adrianna and others like her, born in the caves, it was like a fairytale, some mythical thing. Even as a grown woman, she still found it almost impossible to fathom: the sun, a ball of flame that cast pure light and warmth; the sky, an infinity of pure space, stretching away forever. For the children of the caves, whose world was contained by the roofs of the caverns and lighted by luminescent mosses, the surface world was almost impossible to believe in. Yet it was a dream, a longing, that they had all inherited from their parents. And with the discovery of Upper Avernum, it seemed that the dream might finally be within their reach at last.

She realised that Aldous was grinning at her, and in the same moment realised that she must have been silent for some time. She met his gaze, her head whirling.

"I know," he said, "we're all feeling a bit like that just now. Now, what d'you say?"

She brought her head back down into the caves, and forced herself to think practically. There were mages up in Emergence already, she knew that. They had been researching the mysteries - magical and natural - of the surface world, using what lore and limited resources they had available to them. She could understand why their expertise would be needed up there. But her? An agent for Unspecified Services? Could she even abandon her friends and their work just like that?

"I don't understand," she said at last. "What can I offer Unspecified? What is this assignment?"

Aldous shifted, uneasy for the first time since she had entered the room. "Truth is, I'm not really at liberty to say, not yet. There's a lot that's going on up in Emergence that the populace at large knows about, and some things we're still managing to keep secret - for now. When you take up the post, all will be revealed, I can promise you that. But let me tell you this: I wouldn't still be talking to you if I didn't think you were the one for the job." He laughed. "And I helped save the Crystal Souls, so believe me, I know a thing or two about what makes an adventurer."

Adrianna smiled. "I guess that's true."

"So believe me, then, when I say this: if you accept this assignment, it'll be hard, maybe even dangerous, but it's for the good of all of us. Unspecified needs a mage with your talents, Adrianna. Avernum needs you. Will you help us?"

What could she possibly say to that? She still felt woefully unqualified to be an adventurer, yet here was Aldous telling her he believed she could do something to help her people. The thought made her head swim. Avernum was on the verge of making history, and there was a kind of terror in that. Part of her wanted to run and hide, before she lost herself in the momentous changes looming on the horizon. But the rest of her, the stronger part of her, knew that if she did run from this chance, she would never forgive herself.

In the end, there was no other answer she could give: "Of course I will."

"Of course you will!" Aldous cheered, punching the air. Impulsively, he seized her hand and shook it hard. "I knew I had a good feeling about you, Adrianna! Gods above and below, you've just made me the happiest man in Avernum! No time to hang about, let's get this in writing!"

With that said, he pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and began scribbling furiously, until Adrianna thought his stylus might burn straight through the thin lichen-paper. When he was done, he dashed a handful of sand at it, shook it out, and thrust it straight into her hands. In ink still gleaming wet, Adrianna read that she was hereby required and directed to report to Fort Emergence in Upper Avernum with the utmost dispatch, and there to report to someone called Anaximander to receive her instructions. Still no mention of what her assignment actually was. Either it was so important as to be utterly classified, or Unspecified Services had a way of making everything more dramatic than it really needed to be. Utmost dispatch sounded urgent, however.

"Any questions?" asked Aldous, when she'd barely finished reading. He seemed hardly able to sit still in his chair, his leg twitching as if, now that he'd secured her acceptance, he was dying to leap up and put in motion... whatever it was he was putting in motion.

So many, she thought, but decided on one: "When do I leave?"

"When do you leave? As soon as you're packed, my girl! There's not a moment to lose! But I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you two days' grace, how does that sound? That should give you time to get your things together and tie off any loose ends. And in the meantime, I can have a little chat with Mahdavi to get your clearance for the portal, and a place on the next caravan for Fort Emergence."

With the summons in her hand, the Fort Emergence appointment was no longer some madcap notion, but a real, tangible thing that was actually happening. She was really going to do it. She was going to join Unspecified Services, and go up to Upper Avernum.

She thought of Deverell, and Ramona, and Morgant, and the research - three years' worth of it - that she would be leaving behind. She thought of all her friends here at the Tower. She thought of her mother, over a hundred miles away in Formello.

"Aldous… will this assignment take very long?"

"If all goes well, yeah, you should be away for a good long time."

"I'll have to write to my mother, then. And my friends - I'll need to sort things out with them. I can't just drop everything and take off without a word."

"Sure, sure. I'll handle Mahdavi, and you can take care of everything else." He gave her a searching look. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"No…" It was hard to shake off the feeling that she was turning her back on her friends. But she knew she couldn't possibly turn this opportunity down. She took a breath, gathered her resolve, and smiled at him. "No, I'm not."

"Well, that settles it!" He was already tucking his papers back into his jacket and springing to his feet, as though he couldn't wait to be off. Adrianna took her cue from him and rose as well, smoothing down her robe.

"You're a life-saver, Adrianna," he said warmly. "I can rest easy now, knowing I've got you on board."

Adrianna laughed. "I just wish I knew what this was all about."

"You will soon, you will soon. And when you do, you'll curse me for not sending you up sooner!"


	2. Fort Emergence - Part 1

Fort Emergence - Part 1

The creature in the pen looked up at her with dark, mournful eyes, set in a long, bony face. Adrianna stared back for a while, trying to find some common ground with it, but it seemed to stay as vacant as ever. Eventually it made a low " _baaaa_ " and went back to cropping on the lichen in front of it. Adrianna turned back to Eva.

"So what's it for?"

"Quite a few things, apparently," said Eva. "Meat and milk, same as the cows, but also for clothing. See all that curly hair it has? It can be shorn off and made into a thick cloth."

"Incredible," said Adrianna, turning back to look at the sheep with a new kind of appreciation.

"Someone who'd lived on the surface was telling me the other day that its fat is pretty good at keeping out the damp as well," said Eva, picking yet another clump of matted fur and dung from the skirts of her robe. "It seems a pity the Empire never thought to send a few of these down to us. They might have been more useful than the cows."

"Mmm. It looks quite a skinny thing, though, doesn't it?"

"It's the lichen," sighed Eva, coming up beside her and looking into the pen, where the sheep had abandoned the lichen and was now standing there, staring vacantly into space. "It's not what they're used to eating. Most of our sheep starved. We don't have the plants they have on the surface."

This Adrianna had learned soon after she'd arrived in Fort Emergence. The surface research laboratory was full of wonders, containing plants of dizzying variety, blooming with unimaginable colours and scents. There were trees of many species: upright, sturdy things encased in solid bark, not like the stunted, half-fungal cavewood trees that grew in the underworld. The pens, which Eva presided over, were full of odd creatures like the sheep, and the chickens that clucked and fussed next door. And a deep growling from one of the pens further along intimated that there were other, less benign creatures kept here. The mages of Emergence spent their days intensively studying these specimens of flora and fauna, snatched by teleportation magic from the surface, which, as Eva had explained to her, was almost directly above their heads.

"Nothing like this would have been possible down in Avernum proper - but with the help of a few scries, the teleportation magic has just enough range to bring a few things down."

Adrianna had had ample time to find out about the workings of Fort Emergence's magical laboratories, for it was here that she'd spent most of her time since she'd arrived, four days ago now. As soon as she'd accepted Aldous' offer, things had moved very quickly. Before she knew it, she had packed her things, dashed off a letter to her mother telling her of her destination, and had bidden all her friends at the Tower goodbye. Telling her team had been the hardest part, but despite her fears, none of them blamed her. Ramona and Morgant were both enthusiastic on her behalf - "if it was me, I'd leap at the chance!" - "don't worry, we'll make sure we don't have any major breakthroughs till you get back, ha, ha!" Only Deverell had been put out, but even so, he'd wished her well. One innards-twisting trip through the portal later, she was on the very next caravan from Upper Avernum's Portal Fortress to Fort Emergence. The stark, military atmosphere of the place had been daunting at first, and everyone seemed to be running around under a great deal of stress, but eventually she'd found her quarters and asked the guests' steward - a scrawny, nervous young man named Gordon - to send a message to her contact, Anaximander, to inform him that she had arrived.

Her written orders had implied a rather breathless urgency, so it had been something of a surprise when the rest of the day passed without her receiving any kind of reply. It was the sort of idiosyncratic approach she might expect from the Tower of Magi, where everyone had their minds on more esoteric matters than mere bureaucracy, but in a place like Emergence, where more than half the population were soldiers, it surprised her.

Then again, as she'd reasoned it over her first lonely dinner in the guest quarters' empty dining hall, if Aldous was anything to go by, maybe she should expect a more… casual approach from Unspecified Services.

When morning came and there was still no word from this Anaximander, Adrianna made up her mind to explore the fort instead - partly out of curiosity, partly out of a desire to scavenge _some_ idea of what she had been sent here to do. The mages' quarter had seemed like a reasonable start. But Mazumdar, the head mage, had heard nothing of her assignment, and could offer no more advice than to simply sit and wait.

But for all that, she was kind enough to allow Adrianna to come and go as she pleased - the clannishness of the Tower extended even as high as Upper Avernum - and Adrianna was grateful, for there was a wealth of fascinating experiments to observe; and, despite how Mazumdar might grumble about the Triad keeping back all the really useful resources, the fort had a well-stocked magical library containing some surprisingly obscure texts that she happily lost herself in for hours, provided she kept well out the way of Berra, the irritable old wizard who frequented the library.

But now, despite these diversions, she was beginning to get restless. At best she felt like an especially useless ghost, just floating around with nothing to do. At worst, she felt like a nuisance. She said as much to Eva, who was now grinding unfamiliar herbs and roots together in a mortar, releasing sharp, pungent odours that made Adrianna's nose twitch.

"Perhaps I should send another message to Anaximander?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Eva. "Unspecified Services are all over the place, but somehow it works for them. Just sit tight and all will be revealed. That's their way."

"You seem to know a lot about them."

"There's a fair few of them here, doing this and that. They come in here every so often, looking for something. One group came in looking for information on surface flora and fauna."

"Why was that?"

Eva looked suddenly wary, and sent a swift, covert glance across the room. The mages' offices had only a very small staff so far, and save for themselves, the laboratory was empty. Mazumdar was over in the administrative quarter, and Berra was ensconced in the library, as usual. All the same, Eva moved in a little closer, and spoke so softly that Adrianna had to lean right in to hear:

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but you'll find out eventually, anyway, if you're here. There was a group of adventurers posted here a while back - Unspecified Services, obviously. The cream of the crop, it was said. They had been trained at the Castle by King Micah's own guard, given special magical items by X - do you remember when X was shut up in the labs all those months, working on those secret projects? - and they were given their orders. I saw them all march out of the north gate myself."

"To the surface," Adrianna breathed. Almost as soon as she'd arrived in Fort Emergence, she'd learned that the rumours _were_ true, that they had found a route to the surface. It lay beyond the north gate of the fort, guarded by a grim basalt gatehouse and an equally grim detachment of soldiers, with plenty of signs loudly proclaiming that AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY were permitted past this point. Certainly, in four days, Adrianna hadn't seen one person pass through the gate in either direction. The security was far heavier than that at the south gate, as if they half-expected Imperial troops to storm the place at any moment. A taut sense of apprehension seemed to hang over the whole fort, an uneasiness at being so close to the Empire. A fear that, having got so close to the dream at last, it might be snatched away from them in a heartbeat.

But it was real. It was really happening. Avernum was really sending people up to the surface.

"How long ago did they leave?"

"Quite a few months ago," Eva admitted, her expression clouding as she continued to grind her herbs. "And as fas as I know, they haven't reported back. Mazumdar and Berra were shut up together for days. I don't know for sure, but my guess is they were trying to scry them."

A sense of dread lurched in Adrianna's gut. "Then... did they find...?"

Eva shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Then - what? They've disappeared?"

"Either that or run," Eva said grimly. "There have been a few who have done that: come up, saying they want to help with the building work, or the supply trains, and given the guards the slip at the first moment."

Adrianna nodded. She couldn't say she approved - growing up with a mother working at the city hall, civic duty had been a virtue hammered into her from a young age - but she guessed she could understand. She wondered, fleetingly, if she had been chosen to go up to the surface, would she have done the same? After a lifetime in the underworld, would she have been able to resist the temptation just to forget about everything else and disappear into the wide blue yonder?

It was food for thought as she returned to the guest quarters that afternoon, unwilling to get under Eva's feet any longer. Her footsteps echoed eerily up the gloomy passageway, almost disastrously loud in the utter stillness. Busy as it seemed, Fort Emergence was as yet running at a fraction of its full capacity. Most of the buildings were barracks, and they were barely half-full. The guest quarters were hardly touched. The stone was fresh, the smell of limewash was still sharp, and the air hadn't yet had time to take on the smell of mildew that all buildings in Exile acquired before too long. Adrianna hadn't even seen another guest in the whole time she was here. She had been assigned to a large, empty common room crammed up at the very end of the passage, as far away from the main courtyard as she could be, cut off from the bustle by several thick stone walls. That was another compelling reason for spending all her time in the mages' offices: the isolation of that remote room, in that eerily silent cave of a building, made her deeply uneasy.

It was thoughts like that which occupied her when she reached the door at the end of the corridor, pushed it open, and realised that there was someone on the other side. _Two_ someones.

"Aaargh!"

She screamed. So did one of the someones. It took a few seconds for her vision to clear and her heart to stop pounding quite so hard, before she realised that the intruders were definitely not Empire troops or any other nasties, that they were just as startled as she was, and that they probably weren't dangerous.

When she had opened the door, they'd both swung round, wide-eyed. Now she saw that they were a human man and a slithzerikai female. They had both gone for their weapons when she had come in: the slith hefted the heavy, two-pronged spear of her people, while the man's hand had gone instantly to the hilt of the short stone sword at his belt. Now they relaxed, glanced at each other in palpable relief, and the man laughed.

"Gods!" he cried, clapping a dramatic hand over his chest. "You shouldn't go around scaring people like that!"

"I could say the same thing for you!" she replied, caught between indignation and laughter herself. She realised she still had one hand half-raised, the beginnings of a fireball warming her palm. She closed her hand over; the spell snuffed out.

"Yeah, sorry about that," said the man, scratching the back of his head. "Just the quiet of the place, y'know? Put us on edge. I tell ya, I've been in haunted tombs that weren't half as creepy as these quarters."

"It's an edgy kind of place," Adrianna agreed.

"You're telling me." He grinned and put out a hand. "Truce?"

She shook his hand, and found herself smiling back at him. He was probably about her own age, she realised, tall, lean, and loose-limbed, and that broad smile seemed to come very easily to him. He had an unruly mop of auburn hair, and very bright blue eyes: a startling combination against his pale Avernite skin. She might have thought of him as _boyish_ , if it wasn't for the suggestion of well-hewn muscles beneath his dark tunic, and the battered leather armour and cavewood buckler which had obviously seen some wear and tear in their time. Unspecified Services, very definitely.

"Name's Jenneke," he said. "And this here's my old friend Thissa."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Adrianna." She nodded to Thissa, who inclined her head in acknowledgement. The slith was a big, powerful specimen of her kind, with hard grey-and-green scales that gleamed in the lamplight, and wickedly curving claws. She wore a drakeskin loincloth, and around her neck hung a variety of different charms, fashioned from polished stones and what looked suspiciously like goblin teeth. Her eyes were red slits that stared steadily about her, and Adrianna had the feeling that there wasn't much that escaped that keen, considering gaze.

"So, Adrianna," said Jenneke, "how long've you been here?"

"Four days."

"Just yourself?"

"Yeah. Well, up till now."

"You Unspecified as well, then?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. It was the truth, but she still felt a bit fraudulent. "Just."

"Just?" Thissa prompted, in a soft, sibilant voice.

Adrianna coloured. "I was only recruited a week ago. I'm probably the newest recruit they have."

"And they sent you straight up here? Not bad!" Jenneke laughed, then he paused. "Have you been in touch with any Unspecified contacts since you've been here? We've been told to report to someone called Anaximander."

She shook her head. "So was I. I sent a message to him as soon as I got here, but I've not heard back."

"Huh." He frowned. "Well… maybe we can try again. Thing about Unspecified is, they have their own system. But maybe if we let him know there's more of us here, this Anaximander guy'll move his arse a bit."

"Maybe. If you want to send a message, you can do it through Gordon, the steward."

"Oh, yeah. Him." Jenneke shared a look with Thissa. "We've met him. He showed us up here. Is he always so… jittery?"

"Every time I see him." She sympathised with the poor man - the atmosphere of Fort Emergence was enough to put anyone on edge - but his hovering, anxious presence unnerved her. "I try not to bother him, if I can help it. Anything seems to set him off."

"You're telling me. He nearly dropped a brick when he saw Thissa!"

"I take it there are no other slithzerikai here in Fort Emergence," said Thissa.

"None that I've seen," said Adrianna. "I've heard there are some working up in New Formello, but no, not here."

"I thought not. These upper caves would be a cold place for my people."

"We can get a brazier in here for you," Jenneke said. "And while we're about that, we can see if Gordon'll pass on another message to our contact." He unbelted his sword and dropped it on the nearest bed, quickly followed by his buckler, cloak, and armour. "Now the important question - what time's dinner?"

The guest quarters of Fort Emergence were probably the most luxurious Adrianna had ever seen, and the food - when they had managed to calm Gordon down enough to send for it - was some of the most palatable that Exile could offer: prime lizard steaks, a savoury soup of roots and herbs, the less spongy kind of mushroom-meal bread, and thick mushroom ale. After a long day on the road, Jenneke and Thissa both went at their dinner with gusto, demolishing the steaks and downing a whole bottle of ale between them, but they still managed to fit some conversation around their eating.

"This is where it's at," said Jenneke rapturously, sopping up the last of his soup with a hunk of bread and guzzling it straight down. "Normally when we're on assignment, they shove us in the crappiest little inn room they can find."

"The two of you have worked together often?" said Adrianna, keen to know more about her new companions.

"About four years now, I think, yeah."

"And a good thing it was for him, too," said Thissa, with a wry note to her usual measured tones, "or he would have been gremlin fodder long ago."

"Can't argue with that," laughed Jenneke, and the two of them shared a warm, affectionate smile, such as Adrianna had never imagined could pass between a human and a slith. Since the Slith Wars, there had been a reconciliation between the Kingdom of Avernum and the friendly sliths of the caves, and she had met slith mages who had come to the Tower as envoys. But there was still tensions, factions on both sides who regarded each other with distrust, even hostility, and many sliths who came to live amongst humans were treated with contempt, sometimes outright cruelty. But a deep, genuine friendship seemed to exist between Jenneke and Thissa, and Adrianna found herself moved.

"How did you two meet?" The question was out before she could stop herself, and she bit her tongue, wondering if they'd resent her poking her nose in.

Rather, Jenneke looked vaguely embarrassed, and even Thissa's still reptilian face had a trace of humour about it.

"Ah…" Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, Jenneke said, "well, I was scouting some caves in the Honeycomb, and I kinda got into a spot of bother with some rogue nephilim, who hauled me off to their fort."

"Fortunately for him, I happened to be… _exploring_ the place," Thissa continued. "The nephilim had purloined something from a friend of mine, and I had pledged to recover it. When I found this poor wretch languishing in one of their cells, I freed him out of sheer kindness."

Jenneke grinned. "It definitely evened the odds for me when I made my big escape."

"It has evened the odds for you six separate times since then," said Thissa.

" _Five_ ," Jenneke said quickly. "I had that bandit chief exactly where I wanted him."

"Flat on your face, with your sword broken in two?"

"It was a feint!"

Thissa gave a hiss that seemed to stand in for a human scoff, and they continued to bicker good-naturedly over exactly how many times each had saved the other's life, and which one of them had really finished off that vampire in the Mertis Spiral. They had so many stories between them - it seemed they'd been inseparable since the moment Thissa had broken Jenneke out of the nephil cell - and Adrianna listened avidly. These were proper Unspecified agents, cut out of the same cloth as Aldous and his comrades, and she was assailed - yet again - by a hopeless sense of inadequacy. How could she possibly match the sort of things that Jenneke and Thissa had done? They had explored uncharted caves, fought bandits, cleared out monster dens. Although she had helped ward off the odd bandit raid or undead host between the Tower and Formello, she had never done anything to compare with all that.

Of course, Jenneke would decide to ask her about herself. "So, Adrianna, what d'you do at the Tower?"

"Well, for the last few years, I've been conducting magical research with some colleagues of mine."

He gave a low whistle. "Sounds impressive. What sort of research?"

"Elder runes." At the comically blank look on his face, she laughed and explained, "The very first runic system developed by mages, thousands of years ago. Runes have gone through several evolutions over the ages, before the development of the ones we use today, and we believe that some subtleties have been lost over the course of these evolutions. So my team and I are trying to recreate the elder rune system, to have a better idea of how rune magic worked in its rawest, most arcane form. And, hopefully, by doing so we'll be able to harness some of that lost magic. We've been trying to reconstruct the original runes by studying the various intermediary systems, and-"

"Whoa, there!" Jenneke threw up his hands. "You'll have to use small words; I don't have the brain for that kinda thing!"

"Oh!" She blushed furiously, cursing herself. She had an embarrassing tendency to go on when she was enthused, and bringing up her research was always guaranteed to get her going. "Sorry."

"No worries," said Jenneke. "Unspecified hire me for my sword, not my grey matter. Magic's _way_ over my head. Thissa knows a thing or two about it, though."

"Only in theory," said Thissa, and to Adrianna she explained, "I was once tutored by Sssh-Tha, one of the great mage-priestesses of Gnass, but I chose the warrior's path instead."

"So we've got two warriors and a mage," said Jenneke, suddenly thoughtful, leaning back in his chair. "Wonder what that's all about?" He looked at Adrianna. "Don't suppose Aldous told you anything about this assignment?"

She shook her head. "I got my order to report here and that was about it."

"Yeah, same with us. We was cooling our heels in Fort Draco after cleaning out a goblin camp, when Aldous found us out and gave us our marching orders. That must've been… how long?"

"Nearly two weeks," said Thissa.

"Two weeks, yeah. And that was it. Gave us our papers, and off he went, just like that."

"It was much the same for me," said Adrianna, considering. Nearly two weeks. If Aldous was in Fort Draco nearly two weeks ago, and at the Tower of Magi one week ago, then he must have travelled straight down. What sort of assignment could need that sort of urgency? Certainly everything seemed to be happening at lightning-speed. Maybe it was just an inevitable side-effect of the rapid colonisation of Upper Avernum. But she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more, some underlying mystery about their presence here.

"Did Aldous tell you he was recruiting anybody else?"

Jenneke shook his head. "Nope, nothing like that. Unspecified does like to keep everything on the hush-hush, whether it needs it or no."

"We are clearly intended to form some part of a team," said Thissa.

"Yeah. But why be _this_ mysterious about it all? Strange, very strange…"

Adrianna thought about what Eva had told her today, about the group that had been sent to the surface, and she allowed herself a wry chuckle. "Maybe we're to be part of the emergence initiative?"

Jenneke snorted. "Yeah, right. If they're dumb enough to trust me with something that important, I'll eat drake dung."


	3. Fort Emergence - Part 2

Fort Emergence - Part 2

Two more days passed. Still no word came from Anaximander, but the wait was less excruciating now there was someone to share it with. Adrianna spent most of her time in company with Jenneke and Thissa, and together they explored the fort, learning the layout of the place and chatting with anyone who was willing. The soldiers, on the whole, wanted nothing to do with them, but others were happy to pass, like Captain Ko and Marian, the cheery couple who oversaw the supply depot; Elisa, the kindly old woman who cooked for the barracks; or Habecker, the resident sage, who was always willing to talk, claiming he had nothing better to do. Adrianna introduced Thissa and Jenneke to Eva and the other mages, and they spent long hours in the laboratories, gawping at the surface specimens and watching the experiments.

Apart from that, they spent most of their time in the guests' quarters, especially the training hall. The fort's trainer, Yanmitho, was an elegant, consummate soldier who made no secret of her disdain for Unspecified Services. But she deigned to avail them of her combat expertise. On the day he and Thissa arrived, Jenneke challenged her to a match, and after a short, vicious little bout - during which she coolly criticised just about every aspect of his fighting style - she thrashed him.

"She's good, I'll say that for her," panted Jenneke, as he nursed his bruises afterwards. "Good tips, too, in between all the sneering."

"She could have been more pleasant," Adrianna said, nettled by Yanmitho's manner.

"Eh, she's not so bad. She ain't nothing compared to Johnson."

"Is he really so bad?" Adrianna hadn't met the garrison commander, but she had come to know him very well by reputation. Everyone spoke of him with dread and dislike.

"A proper bastard - and I don't mean in the good way, neither."

Wondering what on earth the good way of being a proper bastard was, she asked, "You've met him?"

"We've crossed paths a few times," said Jenneke, sharing a grim look with Thissa. "He commanded at Duvno for years and years. Hates Unspecified. And sliths, and nephilim, and mages, and civilians. The only ones he might like are his soldiers, but I dunno about that. He drives 'em like bloody slaves. Gods only know why the Empire wanted rid of him. He's exactly the sort of bastard they usually like."

When they weren't being pummelled into shape by Yanmitho, Jenneke and Thissa would sometimes spar together while Adrianna watched. They complemented each other perfectly: Thissa's sheer size and strength matched with Jenneke's speed and nimbleness. It was clear that they were utterly familiar with each other's fighting styles, and their bouts unfolded in complex, seamless sequences of thrust and parry, feint and slash that Adrianna found fascinating.

Sometimes, she would demonstrate her knowledge of battle-magic to them, hurling bolts of fire or spears of ice at the cavewood dummies set up at one end of the hall. Other times she would face one of them, weapons against magic, in short, fierce contests that called for every ounce of energy and focus she had. They were unlike any magical training she'd done before, and left her exhausted and exhilarated by the end of them.

On the second day after their arrival, she was facing Jenneke in the hall. They were alone: Thissa had retired to their room to meditate, and Yanmitho never stayed long if she could help it. Jenneke had taken up a position opposite her, his weight resting on the balls of his feet, a practice sword in buckler in his hands. Adrianna had also picked up a crude cavewood buckler from the weapons rack. She had never fought with one before, and she was determined to learn how to use it.

"All right." Jenneke's voice echoed in the vast empty space. "How are we doing this?"

"Three strikes and you're out?"

He grinned. "Cocky! I'm still beating you, y'know."

She smiled back, but forced herself to focus. She'd learned that Jenneke had a very nimble, almost reckless style of fighting. But though it might seem undisciplined, it was easy to be deceived, as she'd found to her cost during their first bout, when within two minutes she'd ended up flat on the floor, dazed, with the point of his sword pressed against her throat. After that, she had learned to be on her guard with him.

She opened the bout with a bolt of flame aimed at his left-hand side. He moved his buckler to ward it off, and she immediately followed up with another spell, this time aimed at his exposed right. He saw it coming, and barely had time to dodge out the way. It ripped past him and burst against the wall, and was such a close-run thing that she might not have known it had clipped him, if the smell of singed hair hadn't given away that she had hit her mark - just.

"One strike to me!" she cried, exulting. It was the first time one of her opening moves had been so successful.

Recovering his balance, Jenneke shrugged it off. "Eh, I was going easy on you."

Adrianna smiled brightly, but she had no time to savour her triumphant opening, for in the same instant Jenneke threw himself at her with a yell, sword raised. She leapt back, raised her buckler - not quick enough - and stumbled backwards under a hail of blows that rattled her teeth in her head and began to force her, inch by inch, towards the corner of the hall.

She could kick herself for her lack of focus. Jenneke had a knack for getting inside his opponent's defences, and she didn't stand a chance in a physical match. Gritting her teeth, she recalled her senses, screwed her eyes shut, and threw a spark of blinding white light into the air. Jenneke stumbled back, dazzled; she seized her chance and darted out his way, into the open, hurling a hasty spear of ice at him before he could recover himself.

Too hasty: she fumbled it, and it went wide, shearing harmlessly overhead to strike the wall behind him, shattering into a thousand glittering shards that blinked out into nothing.

"Not your best shot," he said with a grin.

"Oh, shush," she ground out, too frustrated with herself to come up with a better retort.

Now Jenneke sprang forward, sword raised once more. She took a breath, and sent another jet of flame his way to put him off. But he was ready for it, ducked it, and came at her. She barely had time to put up her buckler, bracing herself for the impact - only to utter a cry of dismay as he knocked it to one side with the edge of his own, and she felt the chill of cold stone through her robe as the point of his sword touched her breastbone.

"One all," he said cheerfully. "What'd I tell you yesterday about using your shield?"

She huffed, inwardly cursing her inexperience. A moment - then, quickly, she swept up her buckler, knocking away his sword, and springing out of his way. He stared at her in surprise, and she couldn't resist flashing him a smile.

"Like that?"

Before he could retaliate, she threw another ice spell at him. He put up his shield, but she aimed it high - just over his head. Before she could follow up the feint, however, he leapt forward, and before she could beat him back with another spell, he threw his whole weight behind his buckler and drove it against hers. She just had time to plant her feet wide and square her back, straining to force his shield back with her own, but Jenneke had the advantage of size and strength, and he had locked her into the one thing she had hoped to avoid: a physical contest. Her muscles burned, her teeth ached where she clenched them, sweat prickled her forehead. Despite willing up every ounce of strength she had, she could feel herself giving ground. Jenneke's eyes glinted at her over their locked shields.

"I'm going for two, Adrianna."

Before she could reply, he lunged roughly forward. The shock of it made her stumble back, and she fell on her backside. Without even a pause to consider the indignity of the position, she saw Jenneke standing over her, ready to strike home, closed her eyes, and called up a spell.

A chittering noise sounded behind Jenneke; she saw him check, frowning, and turn - just as a large cave rat materialised out of nowhere and leapt at him, claws outstretched. "Whoa!" He twisted back, drew back his sword-arm, and skewered it as it fell on him. In the same moment, Adrianna scrambled to her feet. The illusion hadn't lasted long, but it was enough. When Jenneke realised what she'd done, he laughed.

"Sneaky!"

"Thank you."

"Let's see if you can follow it up."

They were both on the defensive now, both of them panting, cautious, mindful of any feint or trick the other might pull. Like wary wolves they circled each other, each never taking their eyes from the other's. But with each step, Adrianna could sense Jenneke closing the space between them. The minute she was within sword-thrust, the advantage would be his. She had to open the space again.

His buckler was squared before him: a point-blank spell would be useless, but she could try to draw him out… She dredged up her powers - harder now, she was starting to tire - and hurled a swift ball of flame at him, aiming low, below the buckler. He was too canny to fall for it, and the buckler stayed where it was, but he did jump back, out of her way, and with the realisation that she could keep him on the back-foot, she gave a shout of sheer exertion, summoned up a particularly powerful spike of magical energy -

A ball of fire, larger than anything she could have created, roared out of nowhere and crashed straight into the centre of the room, orange flame leaping to the ceiling, a wall of heat stunning her and shoving her back. On the other side, through the shimmering air, she saw Jenneke also fall back, and she twisted wildly round to see where the spell had come from.

Behind her stood a tall, grizzled man wearing an open mage's robe thrown carelessly over a set of travelling clothes. His left hand was clutched around a staff almost as tall as himself, and his right was raised above his head, his palm still glowing with the remnant of a spell. As Adrianna blinked, bewildered, he lowered his hand and strode towards them, his staff echoing against the flagstones with every heavy step.

"Thank the gods for that." He spoke loudly, as if addressing an audience. "I couldn't stand to watch that amateurish display any longer."

Amateurish? Through her bafflement, Adrianna was stung. Who was this man to tell her she was amateurish?

Jenneke put it far more succinctly: "Who the hell are you?"

At first, it seemed that the intruder was simply going to ignore the question, but after a few more steps brought him into the centre of the hall, amidst the last flickers of the spell, he turned and looked sardonically between them. He had a hard, scornful face, with very dark eyes that glinted like sharp stones, and a tumble of wild, greying hair that tangled just past his shoulders. He might be anywhere between forty and sixty, with the lean, wolfish look of one who had spent many years living wild, even by Avernite standards.

Jenneke's question made his lip curl. "If you have to ask, you must be even more brainless than I thought."

"Assume I am." Jenneke's voice was tight. At his side, his fist clenched.

The stranger gave a derisive smile. "I don't need your permission for that, boy." He set back his broad shoulders, so that his worn travelling cloak flared impressively about him. "I am Feodoric."

From the way he made this announcement, anyone might think he expected them to get down on their knees and grovel before him, but the name meant nothing to Adrianna. Jenneke looked at her; she shrugged.

"Sorry," he said, turning back to the stranger with a sneer of his own, "you'll have to give us a clue."

Feodoric's sneer sharpened. "Well, perhaps I was wrong to expect more from a mere warrior. But you, apprentice," with this he turned to Adrianna, dismissing Jenneke in an instant, "I expected more from you."

"I am no apprentice, sir," said Adrianna, drawing herself up. "I am a full-fledged magus."

"You astonish me. A mage who does not know the name of Feodoric the Wanderer?"

"Clearly my education skipped over some of the more obscure figures of recent history," she replied sharply. "Perhaps you would be kind enough, sir, to give me an example of your achievements, to help trigger my memory?"

Jenneke snorted. A shadow of displeasure crossed Feodoric's face, but he masked it quickly.

"Blinkered. Simplistic. I should have expected no more from an acolyte of the Tower. The Triad haven't changed, I see. But perhaps you might be able to tell me this, at least: where might I find the billet for Unspecified Services?"

Adrianna exchanged a look of dread with Jenneke. Surely this man couldn't be one of their teammates

Grudgingly, Jenneke jerked his thumb backwards towards the dining hall. "Steward should still be through that way. He'll know where you're quartered."

"Hmph. Very well."

And with that, he swept out of the training hall, the doors slamming shut behind him, leaving an unpleasant silence in his wake.

"Nice guy," Jenneke remarked.

Adrianna drew a breath. Indignation had carried her through the confrontation, but now that it was over, she felt shaken, and more hurt than she dared admit.

"Delightful," she forced out.

"Now all we have to do is pray very hard he's got nothing to do with us."

But the gods were clearly not listening that day. The encounter with Feodoric had thrown them off their concentration - and, she suspected, blunted Jenneke's enthusiasm as much as hers - so they called it a draw and headed back to their room. But when they got there, they discovered that Gordon had installed Feodoric there as well, and that he'd already got into an argument with Thissa concerning the placement of her weapons.

Dinner was little better. During her first days at Emergence, Adrianna had hated the emptiness and silence of the dining hall, and had wished for someone else there. Now she reflected that she should have been careful what she wished for.

Feodoric talked incessantly, mostly about himself. It was a startling thing: Avernum was a realm of secrecy - few people chose to dwell on their past, their reason for being sent down. There was too much pain in thinking on it, and few asked a stranger about their history. Even Avernum-borns like herself had inherited that pain, that gnawing sense of loss and injustice, from their forebears. But Feodoric apparently possessed no such qualms, and over the next couple of hours, they were assailed with what seemed like the saga of his entire life.

To hear him tell it, he had been one of the most renowned mages on the surface, one of the greatest alumni of the Imperius school of magic. But, naturally, his consummate talents had earned him many enemies - petty, envious mortals, of course - and in sneaking silence they had conspired against him, blackening his name with the authorities, until at last they had found some trifling excuse to send him to the portal. After that, he had spent most of his twenty years in Avernum as a wandering mage, sometimes in the towns, sometimes in the deepest, wildest caves.

He was vague on the particulars - he expressed some certainty that their feeble minds could never wrap themselves around the details - but his words hinted at miraculous feats in hidden places, ancient secrets unearthed, dubious associations with brigands and other, more shadowy creatures. He did not seem to have been affiliated with the Tower of Magi at any time, and indeed he seemed to dismiss the Triad entirely. He did, however, make some remarks hinting at a grudging respect for Erika Redmark, the great archmage.

When the Empire War had broken out, he had graciously offered his services to King Micah, and blasted whole swathes through the Imperial troops. After the war, he had returned to his roving ways, but at last Unspecified Services, sensible of his superior powers and extensive lore, had the good sense to approach him and request his services. And, with great magnimity, he had stooped to render them.

It was fantastical stuff, and during the course of it, Jenneke sent quite a few raised eyebrows across the table to Adrianna, who had to pretend to be extremely engrossed in her mushroom soup to hide her smiles.

"And then, after I descended into the Honeycomb-"

The doors opened, breaking the saga off in mid-sentence.

Quickly reigning in a sigh of relief, Adrianna turned in her seat. She expected to see Gordon, jittery as usual, but instead there stood two newcomers, clearly fresh from the road. One was a nephil warrior: sleek, grey-furred, and green-eyed, with a fine bow and quiver at his back and a pair of slender stone knives sheathed at his belt. But her attention was drawn at once by the other: a human man, just shy of forty, clad in a light monk's habit with an old bronze ankh hanging about his neck. He was a slight figure, with a mild, unassuming face, somewhat pinched at the chin, and with his pale blond hair and light blue-grey eyes, together with his pale Avernite skin, there was something almost translucent about him.

Before she could help herself, she was out of her seat and running to meet him. "Brother Michael!"

At the sight of her, his solemn face broke into a smile. "Adrianna!"

As soon as she was close enough, she threw her arms about him. "Oh, it's been so long!"

"So long," he agreed, breaking the embrace to study her at arm's length. "Look how you've grown. You are the very image of your mother. And I hear you have become a talented mage - well, we never had any doubt of that."

She looked up at him fondly. She had been just a child when she'd left Formello to begin her apprenticeship at the Tower. Then the war had broken out, and it had been a few years before it was safe enough - relatively speaking - to make the long journey north to visit again, and by that time, Brother Michael had also left. Her mother had told her that he had left during the war to offer healing and succour to the refugees who had suffered from the Empire's troops. Afterwards, he had chosen a wandering vocation. Although he had apparently returned to Formello every so often, she had always missed him. Seeing him here, after so long, was an unexpected delight.

"I can't believe it. What are you doing here?"

"I might ask the same question of you, child," he said with a smile. "Currently, I am attached to Unspecified Services. Few adventurers have any use for a spiritual guide, but I find I am much in demand as a healer, at least."

"I'm with Unspecified Services now, too." In this company there seemed little need for discretion on that point.

He looked at her in surprise. "Is that so? But I heard you had a permanent position at the Tower."

"Well, yes," she said, "it was rather sudden." Out the corner of her eye, she saw the others coming forward. "But that can wait for another time. Please, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Jenneke, and this is Thissa, and this," she added reluctantly, "is Feodoric."

"I am pleased you meet you all," said Brother Michael with a deep bow. "I am Michael, brother of the Church of the Bright Star."

"And I am Frrrrrr," said the nephil, with a proud feline lift of his head, "of the Stoneclaw Clan."

"I am honoured," said Thissa, bowing her head to him. "The warriors of the Stoneclaw Clan are renowned amongst my people in Gnass."

"I, too, am honoured by this meeting," replied Frrrrrr, with a purr of satisfaction. "My clan and the slithzerikai of Gnass have ever been friends. My dam once fought the followers of Sss-Thsss alongside your people."

"Are you with Unspecified, too?" asked Jenneke.

"For the present, I am. I was recruited just over a year ago."

"Not often you meet a kitty attached to Unspecified," Jenneke said with a grin. "Good to see you're shaking things up a bit for them."

"Frrrrrr and I met at the Tower, whilst we were both waiting for the portal," Brother Michael told Adrianna. "We travelled up together."

That was the moment Feodoric chose to shoulder forward. "Well, isn't this cosy?" he said, in a voice very like a snarl. Brother Michael looked at him, startled; Frrrrrr's tail twitched. "You certainly can choose your moment, monk. Since I seem to be surplus to requirements here, I'll take my leave."

With that said, he stormed from the dining hall, leaving Brother Michael worried and unhappy in his wake.

"Have I offended him?"

"Probably," said Jenneke. "He's a touchy customer, is Feodoric. He arrived this afternoon and we've been walking on eggshells around him ever since. Probably annoyed you interrupted his speech. We're grateful, though!"

"You are both most welcome," said Thissa. "And I believe that with your arrival, that makes six of us at last."

"Hey, you're right, Thissa," cried Jenneke. "Full house!" At Brother Michael's puzzled expression, he explained, "We've been sitting around for days, waiting to hear from our contact, but it's been no-go. We thought he might be waiting for our common room to be filled - hey, Gordon! - make yourselves at home - dinner's just out - and I'll see if we can get Gordon to send another message to Anaximander. Now that all of us are here, he's gotta give us something back…"

The rest of the evening passed cheerfully. Part of that was, admittedly, that Feodoric refused to grace them with his presence again, and the atmosphere of the hall was considerably lightened without him. Hours after Gordon had cleared away the dinner plates, the five of them were still there, sitting around the table, talking and laughing. Jenneke took an interest in the fletching of Frrrrrr's arrows, and they lapsed into a long, very technical discussion on the subject, while Adrianna and Michael quizzed Thissa about the slith priests of Gnass. Then Jenneke unearthed a game board from somewhere, and a few more hours passed in friendly competition as they all took turns playing each other.

Long after the others retired to their room, Adrianna and Michael stayed in the dining hall, reminiscing. She told him about her time at the Tower, and he told her stories of his travels with various bands of Unspecified adventurers. As they talked, Michael unpacked his things and laid them on the table, sorting through neat bunches of herbs and roots and small glass vials of alchemical brews. This was something Adrianna remembered well from her childhood. Her own grasp of potion-making had never been more than basic, but she had always enjoyed watching Brother Michael making up his potions and salves, and as they talked, all the years seemed to fall away, and it was as if they were back at the shrine, chatting over his work bench.

"I was up in Formello just six months ago," he told her, "visiting Father Caius."

"He was well, I hope?"

"Oh, yes. Going strong as ever. And your mother, too. I looked into the city hall."

"Yes, she said in her last letter that things were going well."

He gave her a searching look. "Does she know you are up here?"

"She should by now, yes. I wrote to her before I left the Tower. It was all so sudden, Brother." And she told him about her interview with Aldous.

"Curious indeed," he remarked at the end of it. "It was Odile, one of Aldous' companions, who gave me my order to report here. I had travelled once with her before. And Frrrrrr told me on the way here that it was Sschah who found him out."

"So we have all been chosen by the heroes of the war," she said. "That's quite an honour."

"Yes, indeed," he mused, moving a few comfrey roots about in a somewhat distracted way. "A great honour, and a great mark of confidence. It can hardly be coincidence. I can only assume that whatever our intended assignment, it can only be something rather out of the ordinary run of things."

It was that thought that stayed with Adrianna long after Brother Michael had gone to bed, leaving her alone in the dining hall. The hints that they had all been chosen for some important task were overwhelming, and she was beginning to feel honestly, properly nervous. She tried to hold onto the thought that Aldous had chosen her, that he believed in her, but it was impossible to escape her misgivings.

She didn't want to sit here alone, but her head was so full of thoughts and worries that she knew she would never get to sleep like this, and she couldn't face the thought of uselessly tossing and turning in her bed. She sighed, propping her head in her hands. The candles were burning low again; she gave a quick flick of her wrist and they flickered back into life. Just then, the door into the corridor opened. She glanced up and saw Jenneke. He had obviously just woken up: he was drowsy, his eyes still half-shut, his hair sticking up in odd licks.

"Hey," he said softly, swallowing back a yawn.

"Hey."

"Wondered where you'd got to," he remarked, as he came over to sit opposite her. With the warmth of another human body right by hers, she was suddenly aware of how chilly she'd become, and she couldn't help but lean in towards him.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted.

"Seen Feodoric?"

"Not since he stormed off earlier. Why?"

"Just wondered. He's not in his bed."

"Oh! Then… where?"

"No idea."

"Maybe he's deserted." She remembered what Eva had told her about the people who had come to the fort pretending to offer their services, only to slip through the north gate at the first chance. Feodoric seemed like the sort who'd do exactly that.

Jenneke snorted. "He'd be doing us a favour." He gave another yawn and dragged his fingers through his hair, causing it to stand up in even more odd places.

"What are you doing up?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Woke up, couldn't get back to sleep." He gave her a wan grin. "All keyed up, I think. Never been very good at sitting still and waiting, that's my trouble. I'll be tossing and turning for the rest of the night now."

"You should have said. I could have got Brother Michael to give you one of his sleeping draughts," she said, lightly teasing.

He chuckled. "I'll remember that next time. You know the good brother well, then?"

"Yes, ever since I was a child. He served the shrine at Formello, under Mother Claudette. He was a good friend of our family, though I haven't seen him for years. It was quite a surprise to see him here!"

"You grew up in Formello, eh? Nice place."

"Yes," she said fondly, "it is. Yourself?"

For the first time since she'd met him, a shadow seemed to pass across Jenneke's eyes, and she knew the answer the instant before he said. "Cotra."

"Oh, gods," she breathed, her heart sinking. Of all the wounds inflicted by the Empire during the war, the destruction of Cotra was still one of the rawest, the most painful. "Oh, Jenneke, I am so sorry."

He shrugged. "Don't be. Not your fault."

She cursed herself bitterly. There was a reason you didn't ask someone in Avernum about their past. She watched his face, normally so cheerful and open, now totally blank, and imagined the pain that must be hidden behind it. She wanted to say something… but what _could_ she say?

"It's how I ended up with Unspecified, really." He surprised her by talking. "Didn't have nowhere else. Ma and Da were both killed. I escaped, offered my services to the army, scouting and stuff like that. Any way I could help. I wanted revenge - a lot of folk did. After the war, me and others like me were sort of gradually picked up by Unspecified. It seemed the best way to serve Avernum, and I always hoped I'd get another chance to hit back at the Empire. _Really_ hit back." He offered her a grim smile. "Might not be a noble reason, but it's mine."

She smiled sadly in return, even as she flinched inside. Her heart ached at the thought of what he'd endured, he and so many others, but part of her was shaken by the hard severity of his voice when he spoke of the Empire. It was so unlike his usual self, and though there wasn't an Avernite alive who didn't hate the Empire, it chilled her to the bone. Guilt roiled inside her, dark and poisonous. It was foolish, she knew, it wasn't her guilt to bear. But it was there, all the same, there in her blood, and she knew now that there would always be a gulf between them. Avernum was a realm of secrets, and she had her own share of them. She had seen a glimpse of Jenneke's, and it reminded her now that she could never, never reveal her own.


	4. Anaximander

Anaximander

The summons came in the morning, while they were at breakfast. Gordon had barely served them their bread and lichen tea than he reappeared, looking paler and twitchier than ever.

"Please pardon the interruption," he squeaked, "but Anaximander sends to say that he will see you all as soon as you're ready."

Adrianna had half begun to think that this Anaximander had completely forgotten their existence, so this news came as a bit of a shock to the system first thing in the morning.

"Finally!" said Jenneke, grinning broadly. "'Bout time we heard something from him. We'd better get along." Then, with a very deliberate show of nonchalance, he leaned back in his chair and took a long gulp of tea. " _After_ breakfast. We've waited for him, he can wait for us."

He seemed his usual cheerful self, and though Adrianna had studied him covertly when they got up that morning, she could see no trace at all of the blank, cold stranger from last night. It was as if he'd never been at all.

They all heartily agreed with his opinion, but even so, after waiting this long to hear from their contact, no one seemed in a mood to waste any more time, and the rest of breakfast was a hurried affair as they gulped down the rest of their tea and scoffed the last crusts of bread. They were out of the door before Gordon could return with a second pot.

During their exploration of the fort, they had learned that Anaximander had an office in the administrative quarter, the quickest route to which was through the main supply depot. Although it was early, the courtyard was already crowded - a supply caravan had just come in - and they had to fight their way through the throngs of labourers and merchants' carts. Edging around a train of surly cart-lizards, who growled in their evil-tempered way whenever anyone got too close, they met Feodoric, apparently coming from the direction of the barracks. Adrianna wasn't sure whether to feel glad or sorry that he hadn't deserted, after all.

"Is is true?" he demanded as soon as he was close enough. "We have been summoned?"

"Good morning to you, too," said Jenneke, giving him a curious look. "Where the hell did you get to last night?"

Feodoric put back his shoulders, smirking faintly. "That," he replied, "is _my_ business."

"Fair enough. I probably don't want to know the details," said Jenneke. "So are you gonna grace us with your presence today, or what?"

"Well - I am mildly curious as to what this fuss is all about," said Feodoric, falling into step beside Jenneke as they led the way across the bustling courtyard. "We have been attracting some fairly intent looks, after all…"

They cut through the supply depot, whose rafters rang with the echoes of voices calling out endless orders and requests, and the thud and rumble of supplies constantly on the move. They wove between towering stacks of crates and barrels, hurried past the stone-faced guards who stood watch over the weapons racks, dodged around sacks of mushroom meal, and were cursed by anxious clerks who darted from bale to bale, until they finally found the door leading out.

The administrative quarter was tucked away in the northwestern corner of the fort, a small, neat block that had been far more carefully built than the rest, with all the impressiveness that Avernite architecture could devise. It was clearly intended to be the headquarters of various high-ranking officials as soon as Emergence was running at its full strength. That was still in the future, however, and their footsteps echoed up as corridor just as eerily quiet as that of the guest quarters, past empty offices whose only function for now was to store furniture and office supplies. At the very end of the passage, however, they found a sign announcing the office of "Anaximander - Unspecified Services". With a significant look, Jenneke knocked smartly on the door. A voice within called, "Enter!" and, tentatively, they made their way inside.

They found themselves inside a large, dim room, lit by candles in desperate need of trimming, who sputtered and cast a haze of black smoke over everything. They gave just enough erratic light to reveal an office in extreme disarray. The whole place was in an uproar of paper: stacks of vellum tottered on every surface - maps, notes, plans, memoranda, official reports - and in between these were heaps of dirty dishes and mugs that looked as though they had been gathering for days.

In the middle of the chaos, on the other side of a wide desk and almost hidden by yet more piles of paper, was a small, ratty man with a pinched face, who twitched constantly, and who gave off an air of constant anxiety. He had been poring over one paper with a desperate look, but as soon as they came in, he threw it aside and leapt to his feet, crossing the room at once to clasp each of them by the hand in turn.

"Welcome, my friends! I am so glad you're finally here." Even his voice was ratty, a high nervy squeak, and he spoke very rapidly. "I am Anaximander, head of Unspecified Services. Just Anaximander, mind. I have some other ranks and titles, but I prefer not to use them."

Adrianna stared at him, and she wasn't the only one. They had been ordered to report, not just to a high-placed agent, but to the chief of Unspecified Services himself!

It was Jenneke who found his voice first, sounding as dazed as if he'd just been clobbered about the head with something heavy. "You… you're the head of Unspecified?"

"Yes, indeed. As Commander Johnson runs the military half of the fort, I run the somewhat - um - more covert operations." He smiled nervously, one half of his face breaking out in a series of contortions. "I am your immediate superior while you're attached to Fort Emergence; you'll answer directly to me. When you do something, come to me. When you don't do something, come to me. When you're just plain confused, come to me."

For her own part, Adrianna felt plain confused already. If she had thought about the head of Unspecified Services at all, she had imagined a subtle, shadowy figure, moving their agents about the great chessboard of Avernum with cool, inhuman precision. Not this small, anxious, earnest man who made her feel quite exhausted just by looking at him.

Moving back behind the desk, Anaximander surveyed them all, his watery eyes flickering keenly from one to the next. "Well, we've wasted enough time already, so let's get to the details of your briefing. A great honour has fallen to you. You have all been chosen to explore the surface world."

Stunned silence. Adrianna couldn't have uttered a word then if her life depended on it. Surely she couldn't have heard that right?

For a long time, no one uttered a sound, then:

"The… the surface?" Even Feodoric's voice was a whisper.

"Yes!" Anaximander smiled widely, one side of his mouth giving a startling leap. "To explore the surface world, in preparation for our return!"

All of Aldous' veiled hints, all the secrecy and urgency, their being installed in some of the best luxury that Avernum could afford, suddenly it all made sense. On some level, it made sense, but still, she couldn't believe it.

"This is most unexpected," murmured Brother Michael, which was possibly the greatest understatement uttered since the invention of language.

Anaximander's face gave a sympathetic spasm, if such a thing could be said to happen. "I know, I know that very well, Brother. But time is of the essence. You'll have heard rumours that a group has already been sent up?"

Adrianna remembered what Eva had told her, about the group who had gone through the north gate and never returned. Somewhere through the numb haze of astonishment, she felt a chill.

"We are not the first?" said Frrrrrr.

"No," replied Anaximander, a shadow coming over his face. "One group has already gone before you, a group of some of our finest adventurers. We gave them very careful training, honed their already considerable skills. They went up. And they haven't been heard from since. So it fell to me to find replacements - fast - and the six of you were the most competent adventurers we could cobble together at short notice. But we have faith in you!" he added quickly, as though anxious they might take offence at not being the first choice.

At that moment, Adrianna felt like the least competent being below or above ground. Why had she been picked out for this?

"Why the hurry?" The question was out without thinking. "Why couldn't you train us the way you did the first group?"

Anaximander sighed, a deeply weary sigh. "Politics. Avernum politics. You see, there was much controversy in the Council over whether we should send anyone up at all. There was a faction for, and a faction against, who preferred to remain hidden. It went on for months: debates, wrangles, arguments, fisticuffs…" He shuddered. "Finally, we secured a six month charter to find suitable people, train them up, and send them out. Six months, that was all the compromise we could get."

"A bit of a tight schedule, then?" said Jenneke wryly.

"You might say that! Then, when the first group disappeared, we realised we'd never get permission to send more people up, not for years, at least. So I had to act fast. I got in touch with some of our agents to identify the adventurers they thought best suited for the job and, well, here you are."

There was a roaring in Adrianna's ears. She felt dizzy. This couldn't be real, couldn't _possibly_ be real. This was the sort of thing that happened to other people, not to her. It was too great, too important. There must be a mistake. For one wild moment she considered just getting up and running for the door, running all the way back to the Portal Fortress and back to the Tower, back to bury herself amongst her books and experiments.

Then she thought of the surface, and knew she would never forgive herself if she backed out from this.

She couldn't have been the only one to seem utterly incredulous, because Anaximander forged on, "I know it's not ideal, I know you haven't had the training, and I know it's not what any of us wanted for a mission of this delicacy and urgency. But we have no choice. It's now or never."

He was rummaging through the papers littering his desk now, practically swimming in vellum. "But I don't want to send you up totally unprepared. I've formulated a plan, something that might help you get in some practice together before you go - Damn! Where has it gone? - that is to say, there's a goblin outpost somewhere in the caves to the north of this fort. A bandit lair, too."

"Bandits and goblins," said Thissa, with a thin reptilian smile. "The universal pests. They have made it into these upper caves, also?"

Anaximander gave her a nervous smile. "I'm afraid so. The soldiers of this garrison have been too preoccupied with the preparations here to deal with him. But we thought a group of adventurers might slip in and solve the problem."

Jenneke snorted. "I'm sure Johnson would love that."

Anaximander gave a tremulous bark, which might just have been a laugh. "I'm sure he would. But if you could clear them out, that should give you all a chance to see how you work as a team before you embark on this mission in earnest. What d'you say?" He looked at them hopefully.

They all glanced at each other, and Adrianna could see in their faces the same stunned astonishment she felt. But there was determination there, too, and excitement. Fear, yes, possibly downright terror, but more than anything, she realised, she _wanted_ this. She wanted to go up to the surface.

A brief silence, then Jenneke laughed. "Well, I'm game!"

Somehow that snapped them out of it, and they all leapt to assure Anaximander that they were up for it, too. Anaximander's face broke out in a smile that set every nerve in it jumping. "Excellent!" Then he was back to wrestling with his papers. "Damn! I know it was here somewhere! We had a map, showing where the hideouts are, but it seems to have disappeared…"

His rummaging disturbed a sheaf of papers balanced precariously on the edge of the desk, and they tumbled to the floor. Adrianna was nearest, and she bent to gather them up. Turning one over, she saw that it appeared to be a very crude map of the Upper Avernum cave system, and held it up. "Is this it?"

He peered closely at it, and his face broke into a smile. "That's it! That's the one!"

The others gathered around her for a look, and she spread it out more fully.

"Now," said Anaximander after they'd studied it for a few minutes, "there's the issue of who should lead your team. We're not the army, our agents don't have ranks as such, but I should appoint one. And, as the agent who has been with Unspecified the longest, I have chosen Jenneke."

"Me?" said Jenneke, amazed.

" _Him?_ " cried Feodoric, firing up with indignation. "A mere boy! I have travelled throughout Avernum longer than he's been alive, I fought in the front lines during the war, _I_ -"

"Yes, yes, yes," cut in Anaximander, with a dismissive gesture of his hand, and it occurred to Adrianna that though he was certainly a nervy man, he didn't seem any more put out by Feodoric. She even thought she caught a glimpse of steel in his gaze as he turned it to Feodoric. "But you weren't formally recruited into Unspecified until a few months ago. Whereas Jenneke has been on our files since just after the war, nearly ten years."

Feodoric's face was thunderous with fury. His nostrils flared, and his lips were white as they pressed tight together. He glared at Jenneke, who cocked an eyebrow at him, and back to Anaximander, who still seemed no more anxious than normal.

"If you aren't happy with this arrangement, Feodoric, you don't have to commit yourself to it."

Feodoric sneered. "And would you risk that, Anaximander? You said yourself time was of the essence. Would you waste any more by losing one adventurer and trying to find another to fill my place? I am the most powerful mage Unspecified has, and you know it."

"I do," conceded Anaximander, "but on this occasion, I feel we can sacrifice power for discretion. After all, there's another mage in the team."

Feodoric's furious glare now turned on her, almost accusatory. She flinched inside, but met his look as levelly as she could. If she backed down from him now, she would never stop.

"I am happy to accept Jenneke as our leader," said Thissa, bringing the conversation back on track. "I have fought with him many times, and can vouch for him." She turned to him with a sly look. "Now, what was it you said about eating drake dung, my friend?"

"Shut up," Jenneke muttered, but he looked pleased.

"Then I am happy, also," said Frrrrrr.

"And I," said Brother Michael.

"I am, too," said Adrianna, rolling up the map into a scroll and handing it to Jenneke.

"Well, Feodoric?" said Anaximander, turning to him again and giving him a smile that was rather sardonic through the twitching. "Are you really willing to pass up this chance to return to the surface?"

Feodoric's face was contemptuous, as if responding to this question was beneath his dignity, but Adrianna saw that he was caught. He might be abrasive and arrogant, but he was still an Avernite, and he still longed to see the sun.

"Right, now that's settled," said Anaximander with great satisfaction, "I don't think we'd better waste any more time. Jenneke, here are your orders: exterminate the bandits and goblins to the north, ensure that your team know their business, then report back to me, and I'll brief you on your true mission in detail."

Jenneke nodded. "Got it." As he tucked the map into his jacket, Adrianna saw that his face was bright and alert, as she'd seen it during their practice bouts, but also calm, collected. Even if his seniority on paper was the only reason for his being chosen leader - and she was by no means convinced that it was - she knew Anaximander had made the right choice.

"If you need any extra supplies," said Anaximander, "we've set aside a store-room just off the main supply depot with equipment for you: weapons, armour, various odds and ends. Take anything you want. Provisions you can get from Elisa in the kitchens. Any more questions?"

No more. As they took their leave, he was already buried in his dispatches again, reading and fidgeting. Just as Jenneke opened the door, however, he looked up and spoke once more: "Don't forget, the sooner you get out onto the surface and see what's going on, the better. All Avernum waits to see whether it is safe to emerge or not. The dream of our people is in your hands."


End file.
